Staying in a Southern Indiana hotel because the power is out at his home, Male High School boys' basketball coach Tom Crews can't wait to take his team to Bowling Green today.
"As long as they have heat down there, I'm excited," he said with a laugh.
Crews is among the several basketball coaches in Jefferson County who are trying to remain positive despite not being able to take the court for several days.
Classes have been canceled in Louisville since Tuesday because of the winter storm that hit the area, and most basketball teams in the city haven't played or practiced since Monday. With limited exceptions, Jefferson County Public School teams are not allowed to practice or play on days classes are canceled.
Crews said he's not worried about the loss of court time -- even though the start of district tournament play is approaching, on Feb. 23.
"As much sickness as there is going around, it's probably the best thing that could happen from a player's point of view," Crews said. "They can rest and get fresh legs and get over being sick. … This time of year, coaches are always worried about their players and the doldrums anyway."
Male is one of the area's lucky few teams that will play this weekend. The 
Eastern hasn't practiced since Monday. Coach Jason Couch said the Eagles will travel to Bowling Green today and have a shootaround tomorrow morning before facing Allen County-Scottsville at 5 p.m. EST.
"Right now it's not bad to have a day off, because late January is a tough time of year," Couch said. "You're still a few weeks away from the district tournaments, and the excitement of the holiday tournaments is over. … Four days off is a little much. If everybody wasn't dealing with it, you'd feel like it was a disadvantage for your team. But everybody else is doing the same thing."
Private schools such as Sacred Heart and Holy Cross are not bound by JCPS rules, but coaches at both say they haven't been able to play or practice, either.
Sacred Heart coach Donna Moir said her team hasn't practiced since Monday but might try to practice at an off-campus location today.
"Our campus took a big hit, and we've lost a lot of power and trees are down everywhere," Moir said. "It's been nice for the girls to enjoy time with their families. … We're just turning a bad thing into a good thing. I love snow days. In our jobs, we're going 24/7 so much that it's nice not to have anything to do."
Holy Cross boys' coach Mike Durham, whose team got together last night for the first time since Sunday, said the break has been nice after playing five games in seven days last week.
"We only go about seven deep, so hopefully that little rest will help," said Durham, whose team added a home game against Christian Academy of Indiana for 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.
The most notable cancelation of the week was that of the Republic Bank/Coca-Cola Girls' Louisville Invitational Tournament, the first time that event has not been played since its inception in 1973.
Iroquois coach Al Northington, whose team was the No. 1 seed for the event, was disappointed about the cancelation but said he knows his team isn't the only one facing the predicament.
"It's a pretty big setback, but I guess it's a setback for everybody," he said. "It's an act of God, and we have no control over it. … We won't get a chance to practice all week, but that's not all bad for the kids' sake. This team I have doesn't really care too much for practicing anyway."
Added Crews: "For those that were playing well, it's probably lousy to have this interruption. For those that weren't playing so well, it's good for us."
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046.
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